Seeding implements typically include a furrow opener assembly which includes a furrow opener that engages the ground to create a furrow in the soil surface, and a feed tube oriented to feed agricultural products such as seed or fertilizer into the furrow. A following packer wheel can be included in the rear of the assembly to close the furrow over the product.
Disc type furrow opener assemblies are well known and include a rotating disc which is oriented to rotate in a plane that is at a horizontal angle to the operating travel direction such that a leading face of the disc pushes soil laterally to one side, and a furrow is created in the soil adjacent to the opposite trailing face of the disc.
The disc may be oriented at a compound angle with the horizontal angle to the operating travel direction and also a vertical angle somewhat down from vertical such that the leading face of the disc is oriented somewhat upward and lifts the soil as it pushes it laterally. Such a compound angle orientation causes the soil to impart a downward force component on the leading upper face and helps the disc to penetrate hard soils. Placement of the product can be improved as well. U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,114 to the present inventor Barton describes a furrow opener assembly with such a compound angled disc.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,246 to Friesen and the present inventor Barton discloses a furrow opener assembly with such a compound angle disc, and a scraper body with a forward scraping edge arranged to scrape a forward portion of the trailing face of the disc. The scraper body flares outward from the disc as it extends rearward from the scraping edge and seed and fertilizer feed tubes are located between the scraper body and the trailing face of the disc. A wing extends laterally away from the disc at a bottom end of the scraper and into the wall of the furrow to create a groove, and the seed feed tube directs seed into the groove, and the fertilizer feed tube directs fertilizer into the furrow made by the disc. U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,438 to Arskey discloses a similar furrow opener assembly with a wing extending laterally from the bottom end of the scraper in a direction away from the disc.
These wings bear laterally against the soil beside the disc furrow which in turn pushes the scraper body laterally towards the disc with a force that varies depending on soil conditions, being greater when the soil is hard and lesser when the soil is soft. The structure of the scraper body must be designed to maintain the scraper body in a substantially fixed position with respect to the disc as these forces vary, since the disc may stop rotating if the scraper bears against the disc with any significant force.